James Joyce, the author of the short story “Araby,” emphasizes the symbolic blindness and ignorance of the faithful masses of fellow Irishmen and depicts his personal religious and adolescent epiphany through the usage of first person point of view, vivid imagery, and constant allusions to the Roman Catholic Church.
The usage of a first person narration allows the reader to see things the way the narrator saw them when he was an unsuspecting youth. Made apparent through his adult observations of adolescent “foolish blood,” his reminiscent narration is all but overtaken by the recollection of his naïve boyish thoughts, placing the reader alongside the preteen youth instead of the disillusioned mature voice of an adult Joyce. (Joyce 1)
As readers are absorbed in the innocence and naïveté of the young Joyce, the feelings of incredible intensity build to his eventual realization that the object of his affection, Mangan’s sister, is blind to him, as the Church is of the poor Irish......
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Approximate Word Count: 1130
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |